GOP Rep. Says House Intel Memo Isn’t A ‘Smoking Gun’

Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) has read the anti-FBI memo crafted by the House Intelligence Committee and wants the public to see it, but he told MSNBC Monday night that the memo is not exactly a “smoking gun.”

“If your audience or somebody is believing this is the end all smoking gun — it isn’t,” Walker told MSNBC’s Katy Tur when discussing the memo.

The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Monday night to release the memo to the public. President Donald Trump now has five days to review the memo and determine whether the public should view the document.

Republicans have not offered much detail on the memo since it is classified, but reports indicate that the memo purports to show that the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court in its application to conduct surveillance of Trump aide Carter Page. The memo reportedly alleges that the FBI did not share that one of the sources cited in the application, Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, was being paid by Democrats.

Despite the lack of detail made available by Republicans, some have claimed that the information contained in the memo is “jaw-dropping” and “worse than Watergate.”

Walker said Monday evening that the memo may reveal bias within the FBI, as Republicans have alleged, and said that the memo’s revelations make “you ask even more questions.” He suggested that it was unclear whether the memo revealed mere “bias” or “intention of wrongdoing.” However, he cautioned that the memo is not all that shocking.

“But to make the case that this is the most shocking document in the history of mankind, I believe that’s a little hyperbole,” he said on MSNBC.